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A Matter of Honor
' |image= |series= |production= |producer(s)= |story=Wanda M. Haight Gregory Amos Burton Armus |script=Burton Armus |director=Rob Bowman |imdbref=tt0708670 |guests=John Putch as Ensign Mendon, Christopher Collins as Captain Kargan, Brian Thompson as Second Officer Klag, Colm Meaney as Chief Miles O'Brien, Peter Parros as Tactics Officer, Laura Drake as Vekma. |previous_production=Unnatural Selection |next_production=The Measure of a Man |episode=TNG B08 |airdate=4 February 1989 |previous_release=Unnatural Selection |next_release=The Measure of a Man |story_date(s)=Stardates 42506.5 - 42507.8 |previous_story=Unnatural Selection |next_story=The Measure of a Man }} =Summary= As part of an officer exchange program, Benzite Ensign Mendon is brought aboard the Federation starship Enterprise. Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher mistakes Mendon for Mordock, another Benzite who took the Starfleet entrance examination with him (in "Coming of Age"). Captain Picard suggests a similar officer exchange with the Klingons, and Commander Riker readily volunteers. Riker is assigned to the Klingon ship IKS Pagh, captained by Kargan. Before Riker departs for the Pagh, Lt. Worf briefs Riker on Klingon customs, and gives him a transponder to signal the Enterprise in the event of an emergency. Riker embraces his role as the Klingon First Officer, and when challenged by Second Officer Klag, subdues him by force, pleasing Captain Kargan and earning respect from the crew. Before the ships move away, Mendon scans the Klingon vessel and discovers a patch of strange organic material on its hull but does not bring it to Picard's attention. Worf soon discovers a similar patch on the Enterprise hull, identifying it as a lifeform. Mendon then reveals his previous discovery of the same matter on the Klingon ship, and when asked why he withheld the information, explains that on Benzite ships, it is considered improper to bring up a problem before you have a solution. Picard chastises him and orders the Enterprise to intercept the Pagh, as the Klingon ship is even more susceptible to damage from the organism. While en route, Mendon discovers a method to remove the organism. The Klingon crew also discovers the organism eating away at their hull. Kargan concludes that it must be a new Federation weapon, noting that the Enterprise had heavily scanned the area during their rendezvous, and orders the Pagh to cloak and prepare to attack the Enterprise. Riker is unable to convince Kargan to stand down even after the Enterprise sends a message with instructions for removing the organism. Suspicious of the radio silence, the Enterprise raises its shields. Seemingly accepting his fate, Riker convinces Kargan to close to a distance of 40,000 kilometers before attacking the Enterprise. He activates the transponder he got from Worf and tricks Kargan into taking it. The Enterprise locks onto the transponder signal and waits for the Pagh to get within 40,000 kilometers for transport. Kargan is beamed to the Enterprise's bridge and draws his phaser but Worf fires first and stuns him. Riker assumes command of the Pagh, decloaks, and demands that the Enterprise surrender, which Picard agrees to, disgracing Kargan further. The Enterprise cleans the organism from the Klingon ship, and Kargan is returned. Riker allows Kargan to hit him and order him off the ship to allow the Klingon to regain some of his dignity before the Pagh departs. =Errors and Explanations= IMDB Character error # Riker's insistence that a father should always be honored are at odds with The Icarus Factor, where it is shown that he is on bad terms with his own father.He is actually stating the Klingon stance on the issue, not his personal opinion. Incorrectly regarded as goofs # In Coming of Age, in which several young students fight for a place in Starfleet Academy, the Benzite Mordock gains the honor of becoming the first of his race to enter Starfleet. In this episode, less than a year later, Mendon, another Benzite, appears not as an already graduated Starfleet ensign, but as an officer from the Benzite fleet, in the same sort of exchange program as with Riker and the Klingon ship. (IMDB) Mendon is unfamiliar with the way Starfleet does things, instead continues to quote how it is done in his own fleet, and early on, how much better their way is, which would likely not have happened if he had attended the Academy.'IMDB entry tt0708670 Nit Central # ''Keith Alan Morgan on Monday, April 19, 1999 - 09:54 am: This Klingon idea of 'get captured alive and you're scum, even if you do escape,' makes absolutely no sense to me. Surely a warrior race would know that an escaped prisoner can do tons of damage behind enemy lines, yet they choose to ignore this avenue of attack because it's dishonorable? ''kerriem on Wednesday, April 23, 2003 - 12:10 pm:'' Also, we never do hear all the ramifications of the philosophy precisely articulated; for all we know, there is an exception made for warriors who get captured, 'do tons of damage behind enemy lines' and make it out. Or, maybe they get captured, do tons of etc. and kill themselves in the process. Given that a strictly honour-bound code of conduct is inevitably not going to cover all eventualities in an imperfect universe...I'm guessing there are quite a few 'loopholes' in The Klingon Way that they perhaps don't discuss with outsiders. :) LUIGI NOVI on Thursday, April 24, 2003 - 12:14 am: In Purgatory's Shadow established that warriors do not have to commit suicide when there are still enemies to fight, or chance of escape. constanze on Wednesday, December 01, 2004 - 11:50 am: I always thought it was an obvious rip-off of the japanese Bushido (warrior ethics), esp. if you read books like "Shogun", where the author states that it is indeed dishonorable to be captured by the enemy instead of committing ritual suicide. (Other rip-offs or signs that the "new" klingon culture is a copy of old-style japan: The tea ceremony, the sword being an important weapon, the operas => Noh-theater) LUIGI NOVI on Wednesday, December 01, 2004 - 8:28 pm: It's not a rip-off. It's simply based on it. The term "rip-off" refers to a created work that is plagarized or used heavily without credit or reference. How can you "rip-off" a real-life culture by writing a fictional one in a sci-fi story that's based on it? Lots of cultural mores and histories in Trek and other such stories are based on Earth cultures.' # ''Teral on Tuesday, July 24, 2001 - 3:51 pm: Shouldn't captain Kargan beat Riker senseless when he questions his decision to attack the Enterprise. Riker is basically questioning his superior rank and acusing him of acting against Klingon rules of engagement. Beating Riker - the First Officer of the Federation flagship - senseless could have seriously jepodised the Federation-Klingon alliance!Nit Central - A Matter of Honor =Sources= Category:The Next Generation Category:Episodes